Apparatus and method for making shantung yarn



Nov. 10, 1959 H. B. JACKSON ETAL 2,911,782

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SHANTUNG YARN Filed D012. 22, 1.954

INVENTORS fiwardfl Jae/[6W] Clarence Z. JZZ/y BY A TTORNEYS APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SHANTUNG YARN Howard B. Jackson and Clarence L. Jolly, Kings Mountain, N.C., assignors to Neisler Brothers, Incorporated, a corporation of North Carolina Application October 22, 1954, Serial No. 464,106

s Claims. c1. 57-383) This invention relates to improvements in Shantung yarns and method of, and apparatus for, making the same. I

One object of the present invention is the provision of an improved method of making a Shantung yarn having thicknesses of controlled variable length along the length thereof.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved method of making Shantung yarn, having relatively long slubs or thicknesses, in a simple and "inexpensive manner. 7 i I Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved method of making a Shantung yarn usinga roving frame, the latter being conventional in the-main and having an attachment of simple'design and construction.

Another object of thepresent invention is the provision of an improved roving frame having provision for drafting fibers different controlled amounts along the length thereof'during the continuous operation ofsuch frame H: I Y 7 Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a generally improved Shantung yarn of the above character, formed-of spun staple fibers, having slubs or thicknesses of controlled variable length along the length thereof.

In the drawing which illustrates the best modes now contemplated by us for carrying out our invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a roving frame formed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of 'a'fabr'ic segment formed of Shantung yarn made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a view of a length of Shantung yarn formed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 4 is' -a plan view of part of a modified form of roving frame; and 4 Fig.5 is a side elevational view' of a spinning frame.

Referring to thedrawing, and more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3 thereof, there is shown a segment of Shantung fabric 10 which is formed by integrating Shantung yarns12 in any conventional manner. The Shantung'yarn 12 is formed of spun staple fibers and has thicknesses or slubs '14 of controlled variable length along the length thereof, said yarn being formed from a roving drafted controlled variable amounts along the length thereof in the manner to be described in detail hereinafter. The Shantung yarn 12, having slubs or thicknesses 14 along the length thereof, is formed from carded and'drawn staple fibers which are drafted different controlled amounts along the length thereof in the roving frame 16, the resulting drafted roving being fed to a conventional spinning frame for uniformly drafting and spinning said roving to form the yarn 12.

The roving frame 16 comprises a front companion pair of rolls 18 and 20, a middle companion pair of rolls 22 and 24, and a rear companion pair of rolls 26 2,911,782 Patented Nov. 10, 19 59 and 28, with said front companion pair of rolls being adapted to rotate at a substantially greater peripheral speed than said middle and rear companion pairs of rolls. The middle and rear companion pairs of rolls travel at substantially the same peripheral speed and substantially all of the drafting in apparatus 16 is effected between the front and middle companion pairs of rolls. Thus the front pair of rolls 18 and 20 and the middle and rear pairs of rolls 22, 24 and 26, 28, respectively, operate continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds in a manner to be described in detail hereinafter for drafting staple fibers 11 fed to said rear pair of rolls, while said fibers pass from said middle pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof. The rolls above de scribed are conventional in all respects and the lower rolls 18, 22 and 26 are positively driven in the manner to be described hereinafter While the top rolls 20, 24 and 28, which are shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, are weighted and are driven by surface-to-surface contact With their companion lower rolls in the well known manner. As previously pointed out substantially all of the drafting of the staple fibers 11 in the roving frame 16 isaccomplished between the front and middle pairs of rolls and pursuant to the present invention there is provided an attachment 60 for continuously-operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting the staple fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls While such fibers pass from said pair of rolls to the middle and front pairs of rolls.

The lower front roll 18 is mounted in fixed relation with the main drive shaft 30 of the roving frame 16 and said drive shaft is provided with a drive gear 32 which is in mesh with a companion driven gear 34. The idler gear 36 is mounted in coaxial relation with the driven gear 34 and said gear 36 is in mesh witha companion gear 38 which is operatively connected to the shaft 40 through the intermediation of the uni-directional clutch 42. The uni-directional or one-way free Wheeling clutch 42 is conventional in all respects and includes a series of balls 44 which are adapted to provide a clutching engagement between the gear 38 and shaft 40 when said gear is driven in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1. Accordingly on the rotation of the drive shaft 30 in any conventional manner the shaft 44) will be rotated at a lower speed than shaft 38, said shaft 40 having the lower rear roll 26 in fixed relation therewith. It will be understood that the shaft 40 is free to rotate relative to the gear 38 in the normal direction of rotation of said shaft when the latter rotates at a greater speed than, or overdrives, said gear 38. Thus the clutch. 42 permits the shaft 49 to rotate at a greater speed of rotation than the gear 38, it being understood that the rotation of the drive shaft 349 will be effective to rotate the shaft 40 with the balls 44 providing a clutching engagement between the gear 38 and saidshaft 41 when gear 38 is driven at a greater speed than shaft 40. Pursuant to the usual roving frame arrangement, the gear 36 is a change draft gear and is adapted for interchangeability with other gears in order to change the amount of fixed draft of the roving frame. The shaft 46 carries the lower middle roll 22 in fixed relation therewith and said shaft is provided with a gear 48 which is driven by the gear 56) fixed to shaft 40 through the intermediation of the idler gear 52 mounted on shaft 53. Accordingly on the rotation of the drive shaft 30 all of the rolls 18, 22 and 26 will be positively driven in the manner described above. Since the upper rolls 2t), 24 and 28 are in surface-to-surface contact with their companion lower rolls said upper rolls will concomitantly be driven on the rotation of said drive shaft. Accordingly the gearing J: arrangement aforedescribed is adapted to drive the front pair of rolls at a different fixed surface speed relative to the rear and middle pairs of rolls and in order to vary the surface speed of the middle and rear pairs of rolls a controlled amount at intervals there is provided a speed varying attachment 60 which will now be described.

The shafts 30, 40 and 46 having rolls mounted thereon are supported for rotation at their outer ends in any suitable manner, for example by means of the trans verse bearing member 62 indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1. The attachment 60 includes a sprocket wheel 64 which is fixed to the main drive shaft 30 and an aligned sprocket wheel 66 which is mounted on the shaft 40 for relative rotation therewith. The laterally spaced companion pair of sprocket wheels 68 and 70 are fixed to the shaft 40 in any suitable manner and are mounted on opposite sides of the sprocket wheel 66, the latter being freely rotatable on said shaft. Wheels 64 and 66 are operatively connected by the endless sprocket chain 72, the latter having laterally projecting pins 74 at spaced intervals in place of the usual sprocket chain pivot pins. The pins 74 are adapted for driving engagement with the fixed companion pair of sprocket wheels 68 and 70 at spaced intervals for increasing the speed of rotation of the middle and rear pairs of rolls at said intervals so as to decrease the amount of draft at said intervals. A pair of fixed sprocket wheels 68 and 70 are utilized in order to balance the forces applied to the shaft 40 when the pins 74 are in driving arrangement with said sprocket wheels. The pins 74 may be spaced at any desired intervals along the sprocket chain 72 whereby to vary the surface speeds of the middle and rear pairs of rolls a controlled amount at corresponding intervals. It will be understood that when any pin 74 engages the companion pair of sprocket wheels 68 and 70 the latter will be driven in the indicated direction of rotation and the shaft 40 will be permitted to overdrive gear 38 due to the provision of the clutch 42. Thus it will be noted that once pins 74 have been inserted in the sprocket chain 72 according to a predetermined pattern, the speed of shaft 40 and thus rollers 26 and 24 will be automatically and cyclically varied under the sole control of shaft 30.

In practice, the carded and drawn yarn 11 is fed between the rear rolls 26 and 28 to the middle and front pairs of rolls and since the middle and rear pairs of rolls travel at the same, or substantially the same, peripheral speed all, or substantially all, of the drafting of said yarn will take place between the middle and front pairs of rolls, it being noted that the front pair of rolls travels at a substantially greater peripheral speed than the middle pair of rolls. The attachment 60 will increase the surface speed of the middle pair of rolls at controlled intervals so as to decrease the amount of draft of yarn 11 at such intervals. After the yarn 11 is drafted in the apparatus 16 to form a drafted roving 11' having thicknesses or slubs 14' of controlled variable length along the length thereof, the roving 11' is fed to a spinning frame for uniformly drafting and spinning said roving to form the spun Shantung yarn 12 having thicknesses or slubs 14 of controlled variable length along the length thereof. 1

In accordance with a modified form of attachment 60' for the roving frame 16, the surface speed of the front pair of rolls 18, 20 is decreased at controlled intervals so as to decrease the amount of draft of the staple fibers fed to the frame 16 at said intervals. Pursuant to this modified form of arrangement the rear shaft 40 constitutes the drive shaft and the front shaft 30 is driven thereby, said shafts being drivingly associated with each other in the manner now to be described. The sprocket wheel 80 is fixed to the shaft 40 and the sprocket wheel 82 is freely rotatable on the shaft 30, said sprocket wheels 80 and 82 being drivingly connected to each other by means of the sprocket chain 72 which is structurally similar to the sprocket chain 72 aforedescribed. The companion pair of sprocket wheels 68' and 70' corresponding to the sprocket wheels 68 and 70 aforedescribed are adapted to be driven by the series of pins 74' which correspond to the pins 74 aforedescribed. The sprocket chain 72' is provided with pins 74' disposed uniformly throughout the length thereof except at spaced intervals and it will be understood that pins 74' may be selectively removed from said sprocket chain at any desired intervals in order to vary the surface speed of the front pair of rolls at corresponding intervals. Thus the interengagement of the pins 74' with the companion pair of sprocket wheels 68 and 70' provides for the driving of the front pair of rolls 18 and 20' and at predetermined intervals, corresponding to positions of the sprocket chain at which pins 74 have been removed, said front pair of rolls will be freed from driving relation with the shaft 40 whereby to decrease the amount of draft of the yarn 11 at said intervals. It will be understood that at any one time the sprocket wheels 68 and 70' are adapted to be engaged by a fixed number of pins 74' which are then in position to drive wheels 68' and 70. Accordingly, at least said fixed number of pins 74 must be removed from sprocket chain 72' to free the front pair of rolls from their driving relation with the shaft 40. Additional pins 74 which are adjacent said removed fixed number of pins 74 may be further removed for increasing the interval in which the front pair of rolls are freed from driving relation with the shaft 40..

i From the above it will be apparent that the attachment 60 provides an arrangement for increasing the surface speeds of the slower pairs of rolls, namely the middle and rear pairs of rolls at controlled intervals whereby to decrease the amount of draft of the staple fibers at said intervals whereas the attachment 60' constitutes an arrangement for decreasing the surface speed of the faster pair of rolls, namely the front pair of rolls, at controlled intervals for the same purpose. The middle and rear pairs of rolls, which rotate at substantially the same surface speed, constitute the break-draft and breaks the twist out of the roving. From the above it will be apparent that the roving frame 16 is conventional in the main with the attachments 60 and 60, formed in accordance withthe present invention, being adapted for forming a non-uniformly drafted roving of staple fibers having thicknesses or slubs 14 of controlled variable length along the length thereof. The yarn 11, which is adapted to be processed to form the Shantung yarn 12, may be composed of any desired synthetic or natural staple fibers and the slubs formed may be of any desired length and by way of example may be of a length ranging from 2 inches to 36 inches.

As previously noted, the pins 74 and 74' may be spaced at any desired intervals along their companion sprocket chains 72 and 72, respectively, whereby to vary the surface speeds of the middle and rear pairs of rolls a controlled amount at corresponding intervals, it being apparent that said pins may be spaced to form slubs 14' of controlled variable or uniform length which may be uniformly or non-uniformly spaced along the length of the roving 11'. The drafted roving 11 may be uniformly drafted and spun in any conventional spinning frame, for example the spinning frame shown in Fig. 5 having successive pairs of rollers 92 and 94 of which the front pair 94 are driven at a greater peripheral speed than the rear pair 92 for uniformly drafting said roving, said uniformly drafted roving being spun on the spinning device 96, which may be of any one of the well known types, to form the yarn 12.

Pursuant to the present invention a relatively long slub 14 may be obtained in a simple and inexpensive manner, it being understood that the roving frame 16 is inherently a high production apparatus and it is accordingly desirable to form the slubs in such apparatus. The roving frame is conventional in the main and the attachments and 60? aforedescribed are of simple design and construction and are readily adaptable to conventional roving frames.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the underlying idea or principles of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A roving frame comprising front and rear companion pairs of rolls associated with a front and rear shaft, respectively, and operable continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls, while said fibers pass from said rear pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof, and means for continuously operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds, comprising means for driving said pairs of rolls at different fixed surface speeds and means for varying the surface speed of one of said pair of rolls a controlled amount at intervals, said last mentioned means comprising a provision for decreasing the surface speed of the faster one of said pair of rolls at controlled intervals whereby to decrease the amount of draft of said fibers at said intervals, said provision comprising means driven by the shaft associated with the slower one of said rolls and imparting the rotational movement of the latter, in controlled intervals, to the shaft associated with the faster one of said rolls.

2. A roving frame comprising front and rear companion pairs of rolls operable continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls, while said fibers pass from said rear pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof, and means for continuously operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds, comprising means for driving said pairs of rolls at different fixed surface speeds and means for varying the surface speed of one of said pair of rolls a controlled amount at intervals, said last mentioned means comprising a provision for increasing the surface speed of the slower one of said pair of rolls at controlled intervals whereby to decrease the amount of draft of said fibers at said intervals, said provision comprising a first shaft associated with said front rolls and a second shaft associated with said rear rolls, a sprocket wheel fixed to said first shaft and a sprocket wheel mounted on said second shaft for relative rotation therewith, means fixed to said second shaft in relation to said sprocket wheel mounted thereon, and a sprocket chain operatively interconnecting said sprocket wheels, said chain having projecting means at spaced intervals adapted for engagement with said fixed means at corresponding intervals.

3. A roving frame comprising front and rear companion pairs of rolls operable continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls, While said fibers pass from said rear pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof, and means for continuously operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds, comprising means for driving said pairs of rolls at different fixed surface speeds and means for varying the surface speed of one of said pair of rolls a controlled amount at intervals, said last mentioned means comprising a provision for increasing the surface speed of the slower one of said pair of rolls at controlled intervals whereby to decrease the amount of draft of said fibers at said intervals, said provision comprising a first shaft associated with said front rolls and a second shaft associated with said rear rolls, a sprocket wheel fixed to said first shaft and a sprocket wheelmounted on said second shaft for relative rotation therewith, means fixed to said second shaft in relation to said sprocket Wheel mounted thereon, and a sprocket chain operatively interconnecting said sprocket wheels, said chain having projecting means at spaced intervals adapted for engagement with said fixed means at corresponding intervals, and uni-directional clutch means interposed between said first and second shafts.

4. A roving frame comprising front and rear companion pairs of rolls operable continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls, while said fibers pass from said rear pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof, and means for continuously operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds, comprising means for driving said pairs of rolls at different fixed surface speed and means for varying the surface speed of one of said pair of rolls a controlled amount at intervals, said last mentioned means comprising shafts associated with said front and rear rolls, respectively, a sprocket wheel fixed to one of said shafts, and a sprocket wheel mounted on the other shaft for relative rotation therewith, means fixed to said other shaft in relation to said sprocket wheel mounted thereon, and a sprocket chain operatively interconnecting said sprocket wheels, said chain having projecting means at spaced intervals adapted for engagement with said fixed means at corresponding intervals.

5. A roving frame comprising front and rear companion pairs of rolls operable continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls, while said fibers pass from said rear pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof, and means for continuously operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds, comprising means for driving said pairs of rolls at different fixed surface speeds and means for varying the surface speed of one of said pair of rolls a controlled amount at intervals, said last mentioned means comprising a provision for decreasing the surface speed of the faster one of said pair of rolls at controlled intervals whereby to decrease the amount of draft of said fibers at said intervals, said provision comprising a first shaft associated with said front rolls and a second shaft associated with said rear rolls, a sprocket wheel mounted on said first shaft for relative rotation therewith and a sprocket wheel fixed to said second shaft, means fixed to said first shaft in relation to said sprocket wheel mounted thereon, and a sprocket chain operatively interconnecting said sprocket wheels, said chain having projecting means at spaced intervals adapted for engagement with said fixed means at corresponding intervals.

6. A roving frame comprising front and rear companion pairs of rolls operable continuously at different controlled and variable surface speeds for drafting fibers fed to said rear pair of rolls, while said fibers pass from said rear pair of rolls to said front pair of rolls, different controlled amounts along the length thereof, and means for continuously operating said pairs of rolls at different controlled and variable surface speeds, comprising means for driving said pairs of rolls at different fixed surface speeds and means for varying the surface speed of one of said pair of rolls a controlled amount at intervals, said last mentioned means comprising a provision for increasing the surface speed of the slower one of said pair of rolls at controlled intervals whereby to decrease the amount of draft of said fibers at said intervals, said provision comprising a first shaft associated with said front rolls and a second shaft associated with said rear rolls, a sprocket wheel fixed to said first shaft and a sprocket wheel mounted on said second shaft for relative rotation therewith, a pair of sprocket wheels fixed to said second shaft and mounted on opposite sides, respectively, of said sprocket wheel mounted on said second shaft, said pair of sprocket wheels being in operative registry and substantially uniformly spaced from said mounted sprocket wheel, and a sprocket chain operatively interconnecting said fixed and mounted sprocket wheels, said chain having laterally projecting pins at spaced intervals adapted for engagement with said pair of sprocket wheels at corresponding intervals, and uni-directional clutch means interposed between said first and second shafts.

7. A method of making a Shantung yarn, comprising the steps of feeding staple fibers to a rear pair of rollers, passing said fibers from said rear rollers to a front pair of rollers having a greater peripheral speed than said rear rollers, cyclically decreasing the surface speed of said front rollers by means solely under control of said rear rollers which impart the rotational movement of the latter to said front rollers in controlled amounts to form a drafted roving having thicknesses of controlled variable length along the length thereof, and thereafter feeding said roving to a spinning frame for uniformly drafting and spinning said roving to form a spun Shantung yarn having thicknesses of controlled variable length along the length thereof.

8. A method of making a Shantung yarn, comprising the steps of feeding staple fibers to a rear pair of rollers having a given peripheral speed, passing said fibers from said rear rollers to a front pair of rollers having a greater peripheral speed than said given peripheral speed of said rear rollers, cyclically increasing the surface speed of said rear rollers from said given peripheral speed thereof by means solely under control of said front rollers which impart the rotational movement of the latter to said rear rollers in controlled amounts to form a drafted roving having thicknesses of controlled variable length along the length thereof, and thereafter feeding said roving to a spinning frame for uniformly drafting and spinning said roving to form a spun Shantung yarn having thicknesses of controlled variable length along the length thereof.

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